Many games exist in which a ball is hit back and forth by the players across a barrier. Such games include tennis, badminton, and volleyball. A drawback to these games is that they require extensive playing space, and therefore are mainly played outdoors.
A few of these ball and barrier games are suitable for indoor play, for example Ping-Pong. A disadvantage of these indoor games is that they are not easily assembled and disassembled for storage or transportation. Furthermore, many of these games employ paddles or rackets. When used indoors, paddles and rackets often lead to the damage of household furnishings.
Several patents have addressed these problems. U.S. Pat. No. 4,357,019 to Wouters, issued Nov. 2, 1982, discloses a float ball apparatus suitable for indoor use. The apparatus utilizes a balloon type ball and two angularly displaced support rods which support the playing net. A drawback to this design is that it involves many parts, including the base, support rods, and the net.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,556,046 to Taylor, issued Oct. 6, 1925, discloses a game which uses an inflated ball batted across a tennis-type net. The playing space is surrounded on all sides by a net. An encompassing net such as this is cumbersome to set up and take down.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,968,968 to Peterson, issued July 13, 1976, discloses a mini-volleyball court layout. The layout has weighted end posts which support a transversely extending net, and means to define the court boundaries. A problem with this device is that the use of a defined court area dictates that certain surfaces will be "in bounds", and others "out of bounds." Particularly when used indoors, this arrangement leads to disputes over whether shots land inside the defined court boundaries.
Inflatable balls for use in these games and others are also known. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,222 issued July 20, 1982 to Kerkenbush et al, discloses a game ball which incorporates an integrally molded plug in the interior of each hemisphere of the ball for providing means for introducing pressure into the ball. A drawback to this design is that the ball cannot be inflated without a special inflation needle.